Blog sends green message to U. of Georgia

Seven UGA students are attempting to influence their fellow students' environmental concerns, teaming with The Wilderness Society to develop a blog that will help spread the organization's conservationist message.

The site - "Wilderness U - Georgia," at wildernessugeorgia.wordpress.com - launched Tuesday and will attempt to engage students from UGA and other college campuses in the state on a variety of green issues.

…This will be the first project of its kind for The Wilderness Society, and Rohde said her team hopes its efforts will provide a template that future state online networks might follow.

And while he shares Rohde's hopes that the "Wilderness U - Georgia" blog might provide a model for other state groups, Lancette also sees great potential in the opportunity to develop college students' interest in the natural world around them.

"At a bare minimum, if all the blog does is make more students aware that there are all kinds of natural places that they can go see and experience - and most of them for free - in the state of Georgia, that's a tremendous success right there," he said. "If we can take that exposure to the outdoors and translate that into citizen activism, so that students are using their passion and energy to create change and protect what makes Georgia so special, then that'll be a tremendous accomplishment."